Heroine of the Story
by Running Ninja
Summary: Sometimes even the Hero of the story needs to be saved. On a whim, Ganondorf allows the mortally wounded Link to live, and sets into motion a revolution he never could have predicted. Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: All For Her**

It was chaos.

Link swung his blade down heavily, felling a barrage of monsters Ganondorf had ordered to storm the castle.

"Run, Zelda! Run!" He grabbed her by the arm and led her down a back hallway. The monsters were closing in. There were so many of them, crowding the corridors in filthy, dark masses. Where had Ganondorf gotten them all?

A window. Link ducked into the room, pulling Zelda behind him, and slammed the door. Without hesitation he shoved furniture to barricade the door, his brain forming an escape plan. Already they were beating at the entrance, and Link moved all the furniture in the room against it. That should hold them for a bit, he thought.

"You have to get out of the castle," he said to Zelda, tearing the sheets off the bed and shredding them into long strips. "We'll have to use the window. How far down is it?"

"A-a couple floors. We'll probably need the whole sheet."

"Alright," Link was thinking fast, handing the strips to Zelda as she tied them together. "Some army that guy got, huh?" he said, trying to break some tension, but Zelda gave him a frightened look.

"It'll be alright Zelda. Don't worry about it," he tried, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, but that hand was covered in blood. She recoiled in shock, and Link drew into himself again, biting his lip.

The strips tied together into rope, Link pulled out his ocarina as Zelda tied the makeshift rope to the window. He called Epona and hope filled him as she appeared below. "You'll have to go first," Link said, handing the end of the rope to Zelda. I'll help you down. Then you need to get on Epona. We'll make for the mountains."

Zelda nodded as Link lifted her unto the windowsill. "Hold on tight," he said as he began to lower her down. The monsters were making new attempts at the door, and the furniture was clattering, its legs scraping against stone. "Come on…." He whispered urgently, his back straining against the rope. At last Zelda touched down, just as the door broke open in a cascade of cacophony and wood splinters.

"Run Zelda!" he yelled out the window, leaping unto its edge, "Now!" he screamed, "run now! You'll need all the ground you can get!" The thundering of Epona's hooves rang out from behind him as he slid down the rope of sheets, marring their white with the blood on his hands. But ten feet off the ground, the monsters had reached the window and hacked the rope through.

He smashed against the ground, his sword dislocating his shoulder. He tasted blood from a broken tooth, and he gritted his teeth as he popped the fire in his shoulder back into place.

It was raining arrows. Burning they whizzed into the lawn around him and he hefted his shield above his head, and they pecked at the metal futilely. But shredding down the makeshift rope and leaping blindly, the monsters were after him. They cracked to the ground and did not move or stuttered to their feet and lunged maliciously.

Sword raised Link hacked away at them, his back to the sound of a receding Zelda. The monsters pressed forward, their weight that of a stampede, pouring from the gates on the ground level and the window out which they clambered unto a growing pile of crushed. Adrenaline rushed Link's system into hyperdrive, and he felt his mind shift into cold, unbroken focus, an efficient machine fighting for a way out. But the crowd pressed around him and he felt the leaping pulse in his throat falter.

His reflexes began to fire madly and jerk his body in all directions. So many, on every side. And those who couldn't jab at him with spear or dagger were hefting stones, rubble, and bits of armor torn from fallen comrades. He tried to raise his shield to the hail, but the made him twice as vulnerable to the swords.

A chunk hit him in the side of the head. It slammed and the word shivered. He swung madly about, losing touch of reality but mad and desperate for a way out, a cornered animal no longer aware of the lines between anything except life and death. He wheeled in all directions, fighting for a slice of advantage, hacking through the thicket of bodies towards open air.

A large monster, ogre like, heaved an armored body and swung it at him, splaying him face first on bloodslick grass. A javalin blunted off his chain mail, bruising his ribs.

He was down. He was down.

The world became a cave without sky, the walls moving and planning, enemies hailing him with blows, kicks and blades. He was kicked in the teeth and a gruff fist snagged his hair and hauled him up. He stabbed the creature but twice as many fell upon him. His shield was being ripped from his grasp, his arm caught up in the banding that secured it to him, sinews straining and screaming at the torture.

He hit the offending moblin in the face and knocked it out. He raised his sword and sliced at faces and necks, but a maddened moblin with bloody teeth and crazed eye gripped the blade boldly with two hands, pulling it towards himself. Link tried to cut away but another two caught unto the idea, crazed by the frenzy of battle and the scent of blood on Link's breath. They were past monsters now, something else entirely reeling for their kill.

A knife hit Link in the side, throwing him off as another clubbed the sword hilt. He felt his knuckles splinter inside his gloves.

Desperate, Link finally freed his sword from the demonic eyed moblins but was clubbed in the face. Blood spurted from his nose and mouth and he spun his sword to try and evade the ever-pressing crowd. It was claustrophic terror, the monsters at elbow length on every side.

A mace struck Link in the stomach and his sword was ripped from his broken hands as he doubled under shattered ribs. With a tug Link felt something at his previously dislocated shoulder. He pulled back, trying to free himself, but with a yank an imp unsocketed his arm and the Hero let lose one long wailing scream, bloodcurdling like the shrieks of redeads in a nightmare Link practically longed for. He could tell by the torturous pain that he still had an arm, but the world wheeled as he pulled off his feet by the beasts, an ogre tearing at his hair, wolfos cutting at his chest, trying to rid Link's body of the lifesaving chainmail. The Hero jerked his body to and fro, flailing, but he was held on every side, fist clenching into his broken ribs and fingers toying with his dislocated arm socket. He felt a blade at his neck and the sky wheeled in red above him. Was the sunsetting, was he dying, or had he simply gone mad? He pulled his good arm and kicked those holding him, but there were too many. He thrashed and yelled and in the red sea above him, caught sight of a panicked Navi screaming in a high pitched voice and bobbing at Link's attackers. But it did nothing.

To go mad seemed the simplest option of all, Link thought as the blade at his neck drew blood.

"Stop!" a voice boomed across the frenzy, and the hissing, cackling, snarling madness about him was silenced. Link was dropped and with a clamor fell to the ground, his last hopes shattering at the voice of Ganondorf, the man who would not let him die without having his say in the matter, a last smear to his name. Link's body rang with impact to the earth, and he rolled on a broken side and tried to pull himself up, but a monster snarled above him and flattened him to the ground, impaling his already skinned wounds with filthy talons. He shrieked and something kicked the creature off of him. Link closed his eyes to the world, his face a turmoil of blood, and tears which streamed openly from his eyes.

"Leave this filth."

The monsters scattered and Link's breath snarled in his throat, catching and gagging. Fire wreathed his body but through a mask of blood he stared down Ganondorf. He shifted his mangled body in an attempt to stand, and a clawed boot was clamped unto a fragmented ribcage.

"Why waste such a strapping lad as you?" Ganondorf sneered. "My Gerudo get lonely."

Link wanted to scream, to wail. But mostly he wanted to strike down the pig who leered at him above so much armor. He had been sure to knock a pummeled Ganondorf beneath rubble on the top floor of the castle, but, as always, he'd managed some way to evade the death that he now repaid with Link's life.

With a maniac laugh, Ganondorf hauled Link by his dislodged shoulder all the way back up the hill and into the castle.

As a last testimony of will, Link did not scream or cry out. He felt the ligaments and tendons of his shoulder tearing and stretching and snapping but he clenched his teeth and let loose a last hope message, as Zelda had to him in a dream, a plea for her to stay safe, to stay away from this Hell.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Insanity**

Link's body, or perhaps his mind, would not let him yield to unconsciousness.

With a smack his agonized shoulder hit the stone floor of the throne room, bereft of any Hylian evidence. He would have fought but his sword, shield, dagger and arrows were taken, and both his fists broken. He had tried to kick Ganondorf, and had lost sense in his left shin. He prayed there were Gerudo healers who would pity the boy with the blue eyes ringed with red tears and blonde hair shot crimson with blood.

A booming laugh filled the corridors, crazed and maddened. Link knew Ganondorf was not through with his victory. "Hero of Time? More like a dog caught rolling in blood on the front lawn." With a kick Link was forced to his broken side and his breathing became short. His airway was snagged with blood, coated raw.

"Hyrule is mine! AHAHAHAH! After years of toil and defeat, this forest whelp will be brought to justice!"

Link began to hack up blood. Pain seized him around his middle and the world flashed to and fro. Red splattered the alabaster stones, warming their chill.

"SHUT UP! YOU DEFILE MY HALL!"

Link was kicked again. His weak arms that supported him slid out and his face landed in the pool of blood from his throat, sticky and warm.

"This land of light shall become what it was always meant to be! THE LAND OF MY PEOPLE! Gerudo are thieves no more! We take boldly to the paths you would not have us trod!"

Link weakly forced himself unto his elbows. The pain had dwindled into a faint hum. He knew what was happening. His brain had blocked off his pain centers to allow him to take any needed measures for escape. He forced himself unto his knees, and crawling to the wall, helped himself up.

"THE KING IS DEAD! A new king has arisen from the dessert sands that shall truly live forever! LONG LIVE GANONDORF!"

Link wheezed, and choked his last hope. "Ganon," he whispered weakly, buckled with injury. "Ganon, I beg not for my life or the freedom of Hyrule."

The crazed man turned and shot down the Hylian with a glare that would chill any man's blood. But Link did not let it faze him. He stared straight back.

"Ganon, I ask you, please listen. Do what you will with me, but please, realize what you are doing."

"Does the mongrel dare to know better than me?" Ganon uttered, his eyes insane, yellow and widened, blood shot and bulging in his maniac face, which he turned creepily on his neck.

"Ganon, I beg of you, realize what you are saying. You act like a mad man. You are scaring your own people." Link turned to the Gerudo women and children peeking around corners, terrified at the madness of their King. "Is it not for them that you did this? Please, I do not care what you do to me but—" Link wheezed as the pain flooded into him again, "Please, see your people. Grant them a King who will rule them well in the peacetime you have given them. Do not give them this murdering madness as a ruler."

Ganondorf blinked, and for a moment he was frozen, teetering between thrashing Link and hearing him out. Then reason ignited in his mind, and the monster that had awoken in his stare vanished as his face shifted. Silence chilled the stones and the blood on the floor cooled. The Gerudos waited with baited breath.

"The Hylian is right," he announced. "Acting as a generous king who values peace for my people—" Ganondorf stared Link in the eye. Link's face was wrinkled with blood and he clutched his side with his good arm. His keen blue eyes revealed a pain that Ganondorf could not comprehend. "—I…I grant this Hylian life."

There was a silence in the hall as the full entourage of pain engulfed Link. He gritted his jaw and willed himself to not vomit, fully doubled over now, gasping for air that brought torture with every breath. The world spun into a crazed kaleidoscope of his own blood and something warm trickled out of his chin. With a cough he inhaled blood and spattered scarlet vomit over the floor as he tried to free his lungs. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't draw life from the air around him. One of his broken ribs has punctured a lung.

"Karu!" called Ganondorf, and a terrified Gerudo scrambled out of hiding.

"Take this Hylian up to a room, and see that he is healed."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The woman went to Link's side and took his good shoulder. "Easy, easy," she whispered, as Link limped along on his broken leg, grimacing and struggling to move, barely breathing through gritted teeth. Another Gerudo soundlessly left the shadows and took his other side. He winced but through his pain murmured, "Thank you."

They helped him to the nearest room and wrangled off his armor as gently as they could. The room was flocked with women, who burned something sweet and heavy that wiped Link's mind to a blank slate. He felt them pop his arm back in and wash his body of blood with cold cloths, tie up his ribs and set his shin, stitch his gashes with a white-hot needle. With a gentle hand somebody cleaned his face and Link breathed a thank you to the yellow gaze above him, a young Gerudo, a teenager. "Can I…can I go to sleep now?" he croaked, feeling the sewing of his arm and the tying of his mangled ribs.

"Yes, Hero," she whispered, placing a hand on his warm forehead, "you can sleep."

Link sighed and let his body go slack, the strange incense in the air making his mind groggy. He yielded to a blissful unconsciousness at last.

Link awoke and an insomniac-looking Gerudo was waiting beside his bed. She immediately broke from her trance and poured him some thick tea. "Here," she said, "This has medicine in it. We burned incense to give you pain free dreams but it will wear off soon. This is stronger."

"Thank you," whispered Link. "The Gerudo are very kind."

The woman offered a weak smile. "Ganondorf has been corrupted by power. He became a terrible monster in his rage. Without you to talk him down, many innocent Gerudo could have died. He does not know where his hand flies in his anger. We are forever indebted to you. You are as much our Hero as you are Zelda's."

Link drank the hot tea pressed to his lips. Its fumes curled and cracked at the dried blood still nested in his nose.

"I would be dead if you weren't such great healers," he said, sighing back against the pillows. "What is your name?"

"I'm Tyra." She bowed her head and set the cup back on the table.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. Do you know where Navi is?" Link asked, noticing her absence for the first time.

"You must certainly be feeling better," Tyra's mouth cracked into a strained smile, "If you are missing that annoying orb."

Link offered a fake smile. While he did admit that Navi's voice could get very annoying at times, amidst the chaos of battle he worried what had happened to her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Determination Beyond Hope**

Zelda wrapped her tattered white scarf around her face against the bitter wind. Epona snorted tiredly and Zelda dismounted and took off Epona's bridle so that she could drink easier.

Zelda went to the stream and splashed the cold water against her face, scrubbing it of travel. When the water stilled again she saw her face, crimson eyes peering at her.

Hiding. All over again. Sheik adjusted his scarf again and went over to Epona. It was just before midday, 24 hours after Zelda had last seen Link, closeted in by monsters as she threw a glance over her shoulder.

Sheik opened Link's saddle packs. Whether or not the boy was dead, she figured he wouldn't mind her eating his lunch, whether she was the Princess Zelda or his ally Sheik. But all the same it felt wrong.

When she opened a parcel she found a ball of light nested inside, cradled by translucent gossamer wings. The fairy awoke and hovered in front of Sheik.

"Zelda!" Navi cried.

"It's Sheik to you," Zelda answered in a deep voice.

"Well then," Navi's voice took on a timbre of attitude. "When I joined you, you were still Zelda."

"It's safer to travel disguised now a days." Sheik answered simply.

"I suppose…" Navi's voice drifted off, and her light dimmed.

"What's the matter," Sheik asked.

"Well, it's just that…" a glowing drop of light fell below Navi, dwindling as it hit the grass. "I thought Link was dead."

Sheik looked down, her red eyes examining the grass. "He wouldn't give up," she said.

"I know but…" again Navi's light was dwindling. "You didn't see…h-he was covered in blood, and Ganon dragged him up to the castle by his dislocated arm…and the whole way up, he didn't move. I don't know how he could have survived. I-I tried to help him, but there was nothing I could do."

"It's okay Navi," Sheik murmured, her appetite for lunch gone.

"I failed!" screamed Navi as she buried herself in Epona's mane.

"Shh, Navi, it's okay," whispered Sheik as he closd the saddlebags and cupped his hands around the fairy. "You did everything you could."

"But that wasn't enough!" she wailed. "The Deku tree entrusted me to be his guardian and I failed to save him! Ganon sent me away with his magic when I tried to follow him inside. I couldn't even hide in his hat. And—his eyes….they were so blank…." Flourescent tears slid down Epona's coat.

"He's alive Navi," Sheik whispered to the fairy cupped in his hands. "I know he is."

Before allowing her to escape, Link had already faced Ganondorf, and the wizard had stretched his abilities farther than they would go. In the end, Link wasn't sure Ganon was dead, but he had become so volatile Link grabbed Zelda and concerned himself first with her safety, leaving his severely wounded and unconscious body beneath a pile of rubble.

After that he had fought his way down many floors and levels that were overrun by monsters until, after dawn, he made it to the room where he let Zelda escape.

The Hero had gone in at sunset, the last rays still gleaming hope of a brighter dawn, after already spending the last night fighting as well.

53 hours. And he had taken countless hits since then, eaten and drunk more than a day ago.

Sheik knew very likely the boy was dead. He also knew he wouldn't sleep until he did something.

Using what Impa had taught him, Sheik prepared a potion and offered it to Epona. The horse drank it gratefully and was revived, her stomach filled and her spirit and legs reinvigored. Sheik patted Link's horse and took the rest of the potion him self. There was no time to waste.

Navi uncurled herself from Epona's mane and as they rode, hid herself in Sheik's scarf.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: The Gerudo Assembly**

Ganondorf's booming voice consumed the room. Link squeezed his eyes shut and pretended to be asleep.

"How is the boy?" the King asked.

"Doing very well, considering. He has broken both his hands, a shin, and a few ribs, but his shoulder is mending very well and he's regained much of the blood he lost."

"Honorable blood, I realize now," murmured Ganondorf. "He has gut and toughness that even I envy." Ganondorf's words echoed into the walls of the room for a terrifying moment. "Heal his hands and ribs," Ganondorf ordered, "But leave his leg."

"My King, if we do not heal his leg he will become crippled—"

"I SAID LEAVE HIS LEG!" Ganondorf boomed, rage spilling over. In the wake of his outburst, he brusquely left the room, slamming the door behind him.

When he heard Tyra and Karu go over to his bed again, Link opened his eyes. Tyra took his hands and began wrapping them in some bandage soaked in a special potion. Karu began to do the same to his leg.

"Karu," Link murmured. "If he finds out, he'll kill you."

"I don't care," Karu said, "I won't let you be crippled. And anyway, neither Tyra nor I have the power to heal a broken bone anyway. Our remedies are limited."

"There's a Sheikah who knows the craft," Tyra murmured under her breath.

"Yes," Tyra added. "If we can get him into the castle he can heal you and Ganon will think it was us. You will have to keep acting like your leg is broken Link, but that'll be far better than no longer being able to ride your horse."

"In the meantime," said Karu, "These bandages will speed the healing."

"Thank you," whispered Link, "I don't know how I will ever repay you."

Tyra shook her head, "Don't thank us yet. And besides, first we have to find the guy."

Karu nodded. "He's probably hiding out in Kakariko, or at worst, the Lost Woods."

Link nodded. "Do you know what Ganondorf is planning?" he asked quietly.

"No. He hasn't told us anything." Karu said. "There's talk among the Gerudos however." Tyra shot Karu a threatening glance.

Link saw the glare and decided not to ask. Once the women had finished wrapping his broken limbs they left the room, the same awkward silence among them.

"You can't tell him that, Karu," Tyra scolded.

"Why not? It concerns him."

"All the same….the risk is too great." Tyra's voice fell.

"You have to agree that Ganondorf—" they jumped at a sound from another room, "that Ganondorf is no suitable king."

"Shhh Karu! Not here!"

"Fine. But you know it's all they'll discuss at the meeting tonight."

The two Gerudo climbed up into one of the castle towers. Guards stood guard in the stairway, looking casual, but finely alerted to any hint of the Gerudo King. His shadow and they would start a mock fight over a pair of toys, their echoes breaking up the meeting in the tower room.

Ascending in the darkness, finally the pair of women reached the room, knocked three times, and were let in.

"Ahh, Karu, Tyra, how is the young Hero?" asked a motherly Gerudo.

"He's doing well. Ganondorf has given us permission to heal his hands, and we need to contact Gero, the Sheikah, because he is better practiced in the art." Tyra said, her wrinkled face benevolent to her sisters.

"What of his leg?" a young Gerudo, near Link's age, called out.

"Ganondorf told us to leave it," Karu finished, and a small amount of upcry rose.

"He'll be no good if he's crippled!"

"Surely you must have it healed anyway."

"Does Ganon think he can keep the boy down by breaking his leg?"

"Hush, sisters," said the motherly Gerudo, and a hush fell. "We must keep quiet or we shall be heard."

"We shall also have his leg healed," Karu finished. A small cheer broke up.

"We musn't cross him Karu," added a wizened Gerudo. "By birthright, he is our King."

"You were there. Did you not see what he did? He dragged that boy, covered in his own blood so that his tunic was no longer green, cast him on the floor and kicked him," said the young Gerudo again. "His eyes were crazed—he is possessed by the power the Triforce has granted him. He is not stable or sane. He does not rule us well and never will. We would be better off with the Hylian as our King."

A thousand opinions launched into the air, and the motherly Gerudo, called for quiet again.

"He is the only male among us. How else are we to continue our line?" called another voice.

"Why not use the Hylian?" said a new voice. "He holds all the Gerudo ideals."

"But he is not a Gerudo!" another woman was outraged. "We will lose our blood and our pride!"

"He's already stuck up for us! He would clearly make a good leader!"

"He's too young! What does he know!"

"He's perfectly fit!"

"He is not!"

"It's too risky! We must wait for the next male."

"That will be in fifty years. We don't have fifty years."

"If we wait that long Ganon will have the Hylian killed!"

"What of the princess? Doesn't he have eyes for her?"

Immediately after each other, the Gerudos cried out their points until there was nothing but cacophony. The motherly Gerudo called for order again.

"All right, all right! We understand that this is a very difficult decision. We shall vote." She called, hitting the box on which she was sitting. Here are the options: continue to follow Ganondorf, or elect a new Gerudo leader. All who wish to follow Ganondorf, raise your hands." A few Gerudo raised their hands, roughly ten, scattered across all ages. "All in favor of electing a new Gerudo leader—" she was cut off by the rush of hands rising into the air.

"Alright," called the Gerudo mother. "The Gerudo have voted to elect a new leader. Do you realize what this means or our kind?" she asked the room, and many nodded. "We will be forsaking tradition and risking Ganondorf's wrath. We will be joining the Zora, Sheikah, Hylians, and Gorons in the matter. This means that they will likely ask us to become their allies, but also that they will assist us if Ganondorf attacks us."

The Gerudo assembled nodded. "Now," continued the motherly Gerudo, "I realize not all of us are here. There are many women tending to babies or children and others who did not attend."

"We should hold another meeting tomorrow," someone called from the back. "With everyone." Sounds of agreement filled the room.

"Alright then," said the Gerudo mother, "tomorrow we will decide officially, as one, whether or not to break from Ganondorf as King and join the rest of Hyrule. But until then, it is best we go to bed now."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Red Eyes, Yellow Eyes**

Kakariko was silent. Word had just reached them, of two things—Ganondorf was planning to seize Hyrule under his power and that he would favor none but his own race, and that he had forced Link two inches from death and still the boy had survived.

Rebellion was palatable in Tyra's words. She was openly criticized for her race, and she only smirked in return. She was forbidden under Gerudo code to tell of the plans of the Assembly until it had been decided that she could tell. And as of yet, the only thing they had decided was that the assembly included all Gerudo except Ganondorf. But all the same, it pleased her to think of what the Hylians' faces when they realized they could ally with those closest to Ganondorf.

But shuttered in a small house sat Gero, one of the last of the Sheikah, visited by a stranger named Sheik.

"You are mad," Gero counseled, "and far too young to risking such a thing."

"It has always been the duty of the Sheikah to protect the royal family," Sheik said coolly, keeping her voice even despite the screams she heard in the back of her mind as she remembered just how far Impa had taken her vow. "It is my duty to save Link."

"Shouldn't you be concerning yourself with Princess Zelda?"

"I have. She is safe with the Deku tree. I made sure of it." Sheik swirled the liquid in the bottom of his glass, a Sheikah drink. Potion or alcohol, he didn't favor it. Though he had their looks, Sheik still had a Hylian's tastebuds.

"What connection does Link have with the royal family?" Gero arched an eyebrow.

"Zelda. She asked me to protect him."

Gero nodded slowly. "I see…" he ran his finger along the rim of the glass. "But all the same, it is far too risky. Sneaking a maimed boy out of Ganondorf's castle is no small matter."

"That's where I need you," Sheik began, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. Gero got up, chair scrapping against the stone floor.

"Gero," said a yellow eyed Gerudo when he opened the door, "I have need of your healing skills."

"So Ganondorf was injured after all?"

"No. He revived himself. It is for the Hylian boy that I come."

Sheik stood up involuntarily, his chair raking against the stones, and both the yellow and red eyed at the door turned to stare at him.

"Ganondorf has asked that the boy's hands and side be healed," Tyra continued, "But that we leave his leg to become crippled."

"Why does this concern the Sheikah?" Gero asked.

"We Gerudo do not train deeply into magic, and we do not possess the knowledge to heal bone. The Gerudo have agreed that we must heal the boy."

"It's not 'healing' if you leave his leg to be crippled," Sheik interjected hotly.

Tyra stared Sheik down coldly. "We had every intention of healing his leg as well."

Silence filled the room, and Gero broke it by saying, "I agree to go. Does Ganon agree to have me?"

"No. We would be sneaking you in to perform the deed."

Gero nodded. "In that case, I will go under one condition—this young Sheik here accompanies me. He is my apprentice."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: **

Back at the castle, all of the Gerudo had assembled except for three. One was occupying Ganondorf, one was fetching Gero from Kakariko, and the last was Ganondorf himself. Both Tyra and the other Gerudo, Nabur, had left their votes to be counted at the assembly.

"All right everybody, settle down," called the motherly Gerudo, who was named Eury. "We have gathered today as the Gerudo women to vote on matters as the Gerudo Nation. Our first vote will be whether we continue to follow Ganondorf as our leader or not. All in favor of following Ganondorf, please raise your hands."

Even less than the day before raised their hands.

"All those in favor of not following Ganondorf, please raise your hands. This means that we may, at some point, elect a new leader."

The rooms was filled with hands outstretched, Karu raised both her hands in vote for Tyra as well.

"Alright." Eury punched the crate she was sitting on. "The Gerudo nation has decided. We no longer follow Ganondorf." There was a cheer. "This solidifies our identity as the Gerudo Nation, and we will act on our own separate of Ganondorf. We divide from him as of tonight, with this vote. We are now a separate Nation from his rule." There were a few quiet cheers. Eury raised her hand and spoke again. "In order for the safety of our people I request that we make an official Gerudo code. Do we agree?"

Again, a clear majority raised their hands. "Are there any protests?" Eury asked.

"What would be in the code?" someone called out.

"It would be a list of laws that the Gerudo Nation must abide by. We will vote on what those laws should be when we decide to have a code. Are there anymore protests?"

No one said anything. "Alright," Eury began again, "All those in favor of a code, please raise your hands."

The room became a forest of arms. "All those in not in favor of having a code, please raise your hands," Eury continued. No one raised their hands.

"The Gerudo Nation has agreed to establish a code. To be a member of the Gerudo Nation is to follow this code. What will be the punishment for not abiding by the code?"

"Death," someone called out.

"Exile to the desert," said another.

"Prison."

"It should depend on the betrayal. If it's serious, then exile of death, but if its minor, then prison or loss of property."

There was a noise of ascent throughout the room. "Are there anymore suggestions?" asked Eury. There were none. "Alright, all those in favor of the punishment of death for the breaking of the code, raise your hands." A few Gerudo raised their hands. "Six votes. Any more? Okay. All those in favor of exile as punishment for breaking the code, raise your hands. Thirteen. Any more votes? No? All those in favor of prison as a punishment for the breaking of the code, raise your hands. Seven votes. Anymore? All right, all those in favor of the punishment for breaking the code to vary according to the offense and the law broken, raise your hand. A clear majority. Alright," Eury hit the crate again. "Punishment for breaking the code will vary according to offense and law broken. Now for the laws of the Gerudo code. All members of the Gerudo Nation, that is all members of the Gerudo race except for Ganondorf, will be required to abide by this code. Now, Gerudo, what shall make up the code?"

Tyra, Sheik, and Gero rode up to the castle through the deserted Castle Town, winding around the back of the great fortress. The sky was inked by night, the castle windows black.

Tyra rode up to one of the doors, dismounted, and unlocked it. "Where are all the Gerudo?" Sheik asked. Tyra did not answer, and Sheik exchanged a look with Gero.

The door opened. Both the Sheikah, with their faces obscured by scarves, dismounted and followed her in, leaving their horses loosely tied to a tree.

The castle halls were darker even than the night outside. The Sheikah followed Tyra down the dark hallways until she reached particular room. She opened the door to find that it was dark as well, with a blue and yellow sword on the floor along and a bed that looked recently emptied.

"They moved him," Tyra whispered, and turned back to the Sheikah.

"Where is he?" Sheik nearly hissed.

Tyra gave them a mysterious look. "You'll have to follow me."

With that she led them through the dark halls again, lighting their way with a single torch. She led them to one of the towers and they began to climb.

Eury hit the crate again. "The Gerudo code is as follows: Do not kill the innocent, young, old or with child, of any race. Do not kill another Gerudo. Do not kill any race that we are not at war with. Disputes shall be handled during Assembly. If you cannot attend a meeting you must either forfeit your vote or appoint another to vote for you. Do not tell Ganondorf of the Assembly. Do not steal another woman's child. Do not defile the temples. All have the right to speak and vote in Assembly. We are sworn to secrecy.

"Now that we have a code, we must decide on a plan of action considering the future of our Nation." Eury raised her hand again. "I ask that we consider what should be done about Ganondorf."

"I say we plot to overthrow him," called a young Gerudo.

"That is to dangerous on our own."

"Then we unify with the rest of the races of Hyrule."

"We still need him or else our kind will dwindle out."

"He is too dangerous to keep alive!"

Eury hit the crate for order. "We shall vote as the Gerudo Nation. If we rebel against Ganondorf, we risk open war."

"By gathering here are we not already rebelling?" shouted a voice from the back. "I propose that we plot to destroy Ganon, but do so in secret. We ally with the other races and overthrow him together."

"But we are much closer to him! We would be doing all the spywork and risking our necks!"

"And in return," said the same person from the back, "They would allow us to live on the green plains of Hyrule. We would no longer have to scrap a living out of the desert rock."

Silence reigned. After a time, Eury called out a vote. "All those in favor of Nayu's proposal, raise your hands." She counted the hands around the room. "All those not in favor, raise your hands."

It was closer than any of the other votes, but Nayu won by ninety hands.

"Alright." Eury smacked the crate. "We will secretly plot to overthrow Ganondorf, and ally with the other races. We must send a messenger to tell them. Who will go?" Several young Gerudo raised their hands.

"Barun, go to the Gorons. Musa, the Kokiri. Malo, the Zoras. Tala, the Hylians in Castle Town. Kapru, those in Kakariko, and the remaining Sheikah. Tell them that the Gerudo have formed a Gerudo Nation separate from Ganondorf. We wish to ally with all the races and overthrow him. Now go. Be back by the next Assembly tomorrow night."

The assigned Gerudo filed out of the room wordlessly. They slipped out the door and down into the dark stairway.

Below them, climbing up the tower, were Sheik, Tyra, and Gero. They heard the footsteps above them. Soon enough, the band of young Gerudo surfaced in Tyra's torchlight and started at the red eyed strangers behind her. Both parties froze.

"Where did they move Link to?" Tyra asked.

"To a cell in the dungeons, under Ganondorf's orders," answered Kapru. "Who are the Sheikah?" she asked.

"Gero is here to heal Link. This is his apprentice. You are not to tell Ganon about them," she answered.

"We won't" Kapru replied. "But I have a message concerning the Sheikah."

"From who?"

"The Gerudo Nation."

Gero and Sheik looked at each other in shock. "Has it been decided to ally with the other races?" Tyra asked.

"Yes," replied one of them.

"Alright then," Tyra finished, the rest of you had best be on your way. Kapru, what is the message for the Sheikah?"

The other's slipped past them down the spiral staircase as Kapru approached the red eyed pair.

"The Gerudo have formed a Gerudo nation separate from Ganondorf," Kapru began. "We wish to ally with your race and all the others to plot to overthrow Ganondorf."

Her delivery was met by silence. "Tyra," Kapru added, turning to the Gerudo healer, "you will need the key for the cell. Karu has it."

"Thank you," answered Tyra as she left the three behind on the stairs to retrieve the key.

"There are not many of us," Gero began. "we are a weak tribe."

"Yes, but the power of your magic is feared by many. If you were to rise—"

"The Sheikah are no longer one," Gero finished. "I will fight against Ganondorf but you will need to seek out the others as well."

"Where are they?"

"When the King was killed many fled North. There are still a couple in Kakariko besides myself. But there is a larger clan much further North, and that's where most fled when the King was killed and Zelda vanished. Ganon hunted many down who were in the service of the King. In the long run, however we would of little service to you. It is the Hylians you must look towards."

"Thank you," ended Kapru, bowing her thanks.

Gero held her at the shoulder. "There is one thing we could offer you, however," he said, an ancient memory bubbling in his mind. "Sheikah have many legends, and years back the Gerudo were of great interest to several of our kind. They unearthed much history as to the magic surrounding your kind—the magic that allows only one male to be born every hundred years."

Kapru's stance shifted. Sheik could tell that her interest had peaked.

"We discovered, that many years ago, the Gerudo women were heavily oppressed by the Gerudo men, and called for justice. Two Gerudo witches, Kotake and Koume, set a spell on the men so that only one would be born every hundred years. As Kotake and Koume had already been immortal for over a century, this seemed far less time to them than they realized."

"But the Hero killed Kotake and Koume."

"Indeed he did. And if asked to lift the curse, it would be unlikely that they would have. But the Sheikah also discovered the nature of the magic, and though they strove to break it, they were unsuccessful."

"What then, can my people do with this information?"

"The curse is designed to not lessen over time, so it cannot be waited out. It centers around each male leader when he is born, who was so that the Gerudo women could still have children. However, if he were to be killed before the next child was born, the curse would have no flesh to reside in and so be weaker."

"You're proposing that we simply kill him?"

"That itself would not work. More than anything, I think it would take all of the Gerudo wanting their men to return."

Deep inside the dungeons, Link was alone.

Ganondorf had him moved there because he was, after all, a prisoner, and the Desert King's kindness only went so far. But down there it was dark and dank, and Link was stretched out across moldy straw. His hands tingled with sharp edged pain and he didn't dare move his leg. The Gerudo pain medicines had worn off. And by the look of it, he didn't expect much more soon. He laid his head back down again the straw and was grateful he had it, at least.

What Link hated most about the dungeon was that there were no windows. It was a cave full of prison cells. With no torches to light the dim, Link wondered vaguely how he was even able to see the hand in front of his face.

That meant there was light. Somewhere. Too diluted to leave shadow, but enough that you knew you weren't blind.

Link sat up again and spotted the source; a crack in the wall where it met the ceiling. That also explained the dripping water.

Link struggled to stand and hobbled over to it, investigating with his arm. If only he had fingers he could use, or was a little bit taller….

"Link."

Link wheeled and lost his balance. He crashed to the floor on his broken shin. As he cried out, he heard a whiz and the creak of the cell door as his guest entered, and rushed to his side, dropping something that sounded like metal against the stones.

With a whisk the stranger ignited a ball of flame in his hand, and used it to light up Link's face. "Sh—sheik?" Link said in surprise.

Navi emerged from her scarf and Sheik abandoned both the light in her hand and her disguise, throwing her arms around Link. "I thought you were dead," she whispered, Navi's blue light illuminating the cell.

Pain surged through Link as Zelda unconsciously squeezed his broken ribs. He squeezed his eyes shut against the pain and didn't dare to breathe—every breath itself already brought knives of pain along his sides. He tried to support her weight on his hands, but they two were broken and knives of torture laced through him. Desperate not to let Zelda know, he bit his lip. His eyes started screaming.

Navi hovered ahead of him in black space and he grimaced at her, attempting a smile. She tinkled lightly with joy, or perhaps humor at his predictament, hugged by the princess herself.

"You look horrible," Zelda said as she pulled back his mangy hair and examined his pale face. Link attempted a smile and barely managed. He was bruised black and blue—his nose had been smashed and then fixed but it was red and swollen again. His skin was ghostly pale with agony in the dimly lit dungeon. His neck was also bruised green and had a frightening cut right over his airway.

Zelda moved on from his face. Under Navi's light, she took his arm and fingered all the cuts, stitches and bruises he had there, and on the other arm. "Link," she said with a worried pitch as she lifted his shirt and saw his side and stomach, laced with bruises as if he had been painted.

Weakly he gave her one of his cocky grins, and her face fell all the more, her eyes welling up. She ducked her head and he felt awful, the hero faced with the princess he could neither save nor console. But he tried anyway. "Hey, it's okay," he murmured. "You're alright, aren't you?"

"Yes," she whimpered behind her hands.

"Then it's worth it," Link said, "As long as you're safe."

Zelda looked up, her face hardened. "I'm going to get you out of here," she said.

"What?" Link exclaimed, but just at that moment the dungeon dorr creaked open and spilled yellow light across the stones. In an instant, Zelda became Sheik and Navi tucked away into her scarf again, and Sheik melted into shadow.

But not before Link spotted his sword, shield, pack and tunic lying where Zelda had dropped them. In a scramble he crawled to them and hastily stuffed them under his pile of straw.

With a creak of old metal the door to his cage swung opened, and a torch bearing Gerudo allowed in two Sheikah, the younger one Link instantly recognized as Sheik himself. With another glance he realized the Gerudo was Tyra.

"I'm terribly sorry they moved you down here," Tyra began, hooking the torch to a wall and kneeling at his side. Link's breathing was heavy, and his ribs cried out, seizing him in pain with each intake of musty air. He found it near impossible to calm himself, though he didn't even know why was so afraid.

His breath snagged on something and he began to cough, racked by pain with each spasm, suddenly helpless, unable to control his own body, curled on his side.

"Easy there, boy," the Sheikah healer began. "My name is Gero, I have come, with my apprentice Sheik, to heal you."

Link's breath was ragged and clearly audible, he took a few moments before whispering, "Thank you."

"Here," murmured Gero, gently taking his shoulders and rolling Link unto his back. "Easy now, this may hurt a bit."

Sheik caught Link's eye from above the rim of his snowy scarf. Link's lucent blue eyes were wide with pain, an injured animal, and for a moment, Sheik was paralyzed by them. As Gero lifted up Link's shirt and ran his fingers along the speaces between Link's ribs, mumbling a chant, the Hero's gaze stayed even. Gero's fingers moved on to another set of ribs and Link's eyes slid shut ever so slowly, his rapid and shallow breathing stilled. Sheik felt his blood chill over in dread.

Link's torso was wrapped in a cloak of heat. He could feel fingers stealing information from him about the shape of his ribcage, and tiny flames licking at the centers of pain, a force compressing his chest and cutting off his breaths.

And then the heat faded, and Link found he could breathe without pain. He drew in a deep breath and opened his eyes, starting to sit up.

"Not yet, boy," Gero added as he took one of Link's hands and unwrapped its bandages. As he opened the crumpled hands, Link's breath caught, but again he felt it heal as Gero pressed it between his palms. Gero did the same thing on Link's other hand as the Hero clenched and unclenched his revived fist in wonder, the triforce emanating gently on its surface.

The leg was far more painful. "That was a compound fracture," Tyra said as Gero unwrapped the bandages. "We straightened it out while he was unconscious, but—" the Gerudo woman gulped. "Please be careful."

Link sat up on his hands, infinitely grateful for their returned use. As Gero uncovered Link's shin, Sheik drew in a deep breath.

It had healed well, considering. But that did not take away from the fact that you could still tell the place where the bone had punctured through the skin.

Gero took the leg and pulled. Link's eyes rolled up and he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Gero continued to feel up and down the leg, before he laid his hands against it and Link felt the pain burn away. With relief he raised it up and smiled. "I thank you beyond measure," Link said, clasping his hands together and bowing as well as he could while sitting.

Gero smiled and answered, "It is my pleasure to assist the Hero of Time."

With that, two Sheikah and Tyra took the torch from the wall and left Link in his cell again. "Karu and I'll be in later, Link," Tyra assured him as the three climbed up the stairs out of the dungeons and shut a heavy wooden door behind them.

Link's eye's ticked to the gap in the corner, and he grabbed his sword from under the hay, pulled it out of his sheath, and wedged it in the crack, widening it the tiniest bit. With more work clumps of dirt fell into his face and when he shook them off, he glimpsed a star. Invigorated, he pecked at the stone's mortar—it was cracked and in disrepair. Eventually, he wedged the stone free and set it on he floor, and began digging in earnest out of his prison cell.

He applied himself to the tack for half an hour, at which point he eased his pack out of the hole. The shield just barely fit. Link jumped, and then attempted to wiggle his way out. And at last, he squirmed out into the clear night, brushed himself off, and pulled on his tunic, feeling refreshed at the crisp air swirling around him. It was then that he noticed Epona, tied loosely to the castle walls. Amazed at his luck, he climbed on top of her and set off.

Rampant with joy he galloped her out of the castle grounds, preparing to enter the town. But he pulled up short in front of a Gerudo warrior who had been coming towards the castle. Hesitantly, he reached back and curled his gloriously unbroken hand around his sword hilt.

The Gerudo raised a hand in peace and drew down her traditional Gerudo face scarf. "Link of Hyrule," she said carefully, her voice wavering slightly. "I come in peace, as a messenger to the people of Castletown."

"A messenger of what?" Link asked.

"A messenger for the Gerudo Nation. We have separated from the rule of Ganondorf. We wish to ally with the Hylians against him."


End file.
